For as much as I hate winter, I absolutely love the Winter Olympic Games and can't wait until they begin on February 7th. I pretty much love it all ~ Skiing, figure skating, speed skating, bobsledding, curling, hockey ~ It's alllll good!

Will you be watching? What event are you looking forward to watching the most?

Same with me, I pay the most attention to the hockey, but I do love all the rest as well. Going to view as much as I can through torrents (I wish I could pay for cable for two weeks every two years when the Olympics are on, it's honestly the only times I've really missed having it).

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Six players from the 2006 gold medal-winning squad with Alfredsson competing in his fifth Games. Jimmie Ericsson, brother of Jonathan, is the only non-NHL player on the roster.
Among the missing names: Jonas Brodin, Hampus Lindholm and Victor Hedman on defense, along with Tobi Enstrom, who declined his invitation in October. Up front, Mika Zibanejad, Patric Hornqvist, Marcus Johansson are notable omissions. Robin Lehner lost out in net to Enroth and Gustavsson. Given injuries to Eriksson, Ekman-Larsson and Steen, along with any others that might pop up in the next month, there is a chance for injury replacement.

Notable names absent: Sean Bergenheim, World Junior hero Rasmus Ristolainen and Pekka Rinne (injured).
Had Rinne been healthy this season, he would have made the Finnish net even scarier than it currently stands with Lehtonen, Niemi and Rask between the pipes. Head coach Erkka Westerlund will be pretty confident with that group.
Mikko Koivu gets named as he deals with an ankle injury that will keep him out at least a month. As with any injury replacements, Finland has up until right before the tournament begins to swap him out should he be prevented from playing.
From one Koivu to another. One name not on the list is four-time Olympian Saku Koivu. According to Finnish reporter Matias Strozyk, Koivu was on the final list up until a few days ago before withdrawing from consideration because he wasn't happy with his recovery from a concussion he suffered in October that cause him to miss a month.
"I feel that in my case dreams and reality are conflicting," said Koivu in a statement. 'I would prefer to be replaced by a better-prepared player."
One final note: According to the IIHF, Teemu Selanne will become just the second hockey player ever to participate in six Olympic Games, joining countryman Raimo Helminen.

Interesting decision to bring 42-year old Petr Nedved, who last played in the Olympics at the 1994 Games in Lillehammer as a member of Team Canada, to the party and leave Hudler and Vrbata at home.
Among the other notable names not named include Tomas Fleischmann, Tomas Hertl (injured), Roman Polak, Michal Neuvirth, Martin Erat, Jan Hejda and Martin Havlat (injured).
Said Czech head coach Alois Hadamczik: "I tried to pick the best team, who will be a party committed to achieve the best result."
Calgary Flames head coach Bob Hartley was so astonished that Hudler wasn't included he dropped this bit of sarcasm when asked about the Czech's decision:

Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester is returning to the Olympics after failing to make the roster in 2010. He played on Canada's 2006 Olympic team with Nash and Luongo.

The bigger news might be the players who were not selected to go to Sochi. Among them are five players who were on the 2010 team in Vancouver and were invited to Canada's Olympic orientation camp in August: Eric Staal (Carolina Hurricanes), Joe Thornton (San Jose Sharks), Dan Boyle (Sharks), Mike Richards (Kings) and Brent Seabrook (Blackhawks).

Among the other top candidates who did not make the final roster are Martin St. Louis (Lightning), Claude Giroux (Philadelphia Flyers), Logan Couture (San Jose Sharks), Taylor Hall (Edmonton Oilers), James Neal (Penguins) and Corey Crawford (Blackhawks).

Couture will have surgery Wednesday to repair an upper-body injury, reportedly his hand. The Sharks are expected to know more about his timetable for a return to the lineup following the procedure.

I was actually really surprised that they gave Kunitz his due and put him on the Canadian team. Grats to him!

List of Pens in the Olympics:

Orpik and Martin for the US; Crosby and Kunitz for Canada; Jokinen and Maata for Finland (HUGE congrats to him); Geno for Russia.

I feel like Neal and Fleury kind of got snubbed a little (more Fleury than Neal), but I get it. They are so stacked at forward, and a lot of great players got left off. Should have been him and not Benn though. Hmmmph.

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I feel like Neal and Fleury kind of got snubbed a little (more Fleury than Neal), but I get it. They are so stacked at forward, and a lot of great players got left off. Should have been him and not Benn though. Hmmmph.

There's legitimate outrage from Pittsburgh writers that Neal was left off the team for Rick Nash. The argument against is Neal plays with Malkin and thus his stats are inflated. I don't know how legitimate that argument is, but it's one that's being thrown around right now.

Anyways, it'll probably come down to USA - Canada again this year for Gold.

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